42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me,(A) for I have come here from God.(B) I have not come on my own;(C) God sent me.(D) 43 Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. 44 You belong to your father, the devil,(E) and you want to carry out your father’s desires.(F) He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.(G) 45 Yet because I tell the truth,(H) you do not believe me! 46 Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 Whoever belongs to God hears what God says.(I) The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

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For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid,(A) but gives us power,(B) love and self-discipline.

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Made Alive in Christ

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,(A) in which you used to live(B) when you followed the ways of this world(C) and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air,(D) the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.(E) All of us also lived among them at one time,(F) gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a](G) and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us,(H) God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions(I)—it is by grace you have been saved.(J) And God raised us up with Christ(K) and seated us with him(L) in the heavenly realms(M) in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace,(N) expressed in his kindness(O) to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace(P) you have been saved,(Q) through faith(R)—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works,(S) so that no one can boast.(T) 10 For we are God’s handiwork,(U) created(V) in Christ Jesus to do good works,(W) which God prepared in advance for us to do.

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Footnotes

  1. Ephesians 2:3 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit.

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